
Design thinking has become crucial for high added-value product development, especially in the field of creative industries (automotive, art, fashion, luxury, sports…).
More specifically, in the context of globalisation, consumer goods must be adapted to custom requirements such as aesthetics, integrability, reconfigurability or sustainability. Thus, cultural diversity must be properly taken into account to match high-end products features with some intangible factors such as :
- trend translation,
- enhanced sensations,
- cultural values or artistic expression
This growing concern has led to the creation of norms and to the launch of guidelines from the European Commission such as COM(2012)537 and SWD(2013)380 promoting the creation of new innovating design strategies.

Creative industries are constantly in need of technological solutions for novel products to integrate functionalities and/or to improve aesthetics that are key differentiation features.
Therefore, advanced materials and manufacturing processes are key enabling technologies that can push products beyond the state-of-the-art solutions currently available on the market, as well as open access to new markets and customers’ segments.
By disseminating the potential of new materials to the designers’ community and thus bridging the gap with material scientists, it is possible to foresee a significant increase in the companies’ innovation capabilities.
The consortium has set 4 main objectives:



